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1、Stem-celltherapiesPrometheusunboundResearchershaveyettorealisetheolddreamofregeneratingorgans.ButtheyaregettingcloserJul6th2013
2、Fromtheprintedition··TweetPROMETHEUS,aTitanboundtoarockbyZeus,enduredthedailytortureofaneaglefeastingonhisliver,onlytohavetheorganregrowe
3、achnight.Comparedwiththisspectacle,avideoonthewebsiteofNaturethisweekseemsdecidedlydull.Itshowsacollectionofpinkdotsconsolidatingintoadarkercentralglob.Butsomethingtitanicisindeedhappening.Thepinkdotsarestemcells,andthevideoshowsthedevelopmentofaliverbud,somethingw
4、hichcangoontolookandactlikealiver.TakanoriTakebeandHidekiTaniguchiofYokohamaCityUniversity,inJapan,whomadethevideo,havecreatedworkinghuman-livertissue.Inthissection·Prometheusunbound·Beans’talk·Apileofwood·TheelephantintheroomReprintsRelatedtopics·Technology·Stem-c
5、ellresearch·Healthandfitness·Scienceandtechnology·MedicaltechnologyResearchershavelongdreamedthatstemcellsmightbeusedtorepairorreplacedamagedtissue,anaspirationknownasregenerativemedicine.Embryonicstemcells,inparticular,are“pluripotent”,meaningtheyareabletobecomean
6、yothertypeofcell.Anditisnowpossibletoinducepluripotencyincellsthathavenotcomefromembryos,thuscircumventingtheethicalminefieldpreviouslyassociatedwithobtainingthem.LastyearShinyaYamanakaofKyotoUniversitywonaNobelprizefortheinventionofinducedpluripotency.Hehadshownho
7、wfoursignalproteinscanreprogramadultcellsintoapluripotentstate.Besidedealingwiththeethicalproblemsofembryoniccells,DrYamanaka’sinducedpluripotentstem(iPS)cellsallow—atleastintheory—atreatmenttobecreatedfromapatient’sownbody.Thiswouldhavehisowngeneticmakeupandwouldt
8、husnotattracttheattentionofhisimmunesystem.Realisingsuchtreatmentshasbeenfiendishlydifficult.ButDrTakebe’spaperinNatureisoneofseveralsignsthatthePrometheandreamisslowlycomingtolife.BuddinghopeClinicaltrialsofpluripotentcellsarealreadyhappening,thoughtheyharkbacktot
9、hedayswhenonlycellsderivedfromembryoswereavailable.AnAmericanfirmcalledAdvancedCellTechnology(ACT)isusingthemtotreatmaculardegeneration,acauseofb
